IPCC calls for far-reaching changes to fight global warming

Incheon (South Korea): The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a world body assessing the science related to climate change, urged “rapid and far-reaching” changes in all aspects of the entire world on Monday to fight global warming after adopting a special report on the issue.

The 48th IPCC session in South Korea’s western port city of Incheon brought together about 570 representatives from 135 countries and international organisations, Xinhua news agency reported.

It approved the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius that will be a key scientific input into the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Poland in December.

The report highlighted a number of climate change impacts that could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in comparison to 2 degrees Celsius or higher.

It examined pathways available to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, what it would take to achieve them and what the consequences could be.

The report found that limiting the warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport and cities.

The special report was requested by 195 nations when they adopted the Paris Agreement in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UNFCCC.

The report would become a key scientific basis for the COP24 to the UNFCCC, scheduled for December in Poland, according to the IPCC.

The IPCC was established by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments about climate change, its implications and potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation strategies.